


new everything

by lauraxtennant



Series: Post-Episode Collection [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Post-Episode: s01e14 The Christmas Invasion, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 05:30:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2680814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lauraxtennant/pseuds/lauraxtennant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten/Rose, set after The Christmas Invasion. The Doctor assesses his new body, and wonders whether Rose still sees him as the same man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It only occurred to the Doctor to check things out down there at the end of the night.

Earlier, when he’d been deciding what to wear upon changing out of Howard’s pyjamas, he hadn’t looked. He’d still had his pants on under the pyjama bottoms, so he simply did a quick change out of the pjs and into the pinstripes and then promptly became preoccupied with looking at his hair and jawline in the mirror.

But later, when he and Rose had retreated to the TARDIS for the night to sleep, his companion’s parting statement was, “Off to take a shower, see you tomorrow,” which prompted him to think about taking a shower himself. Well, all right, at first it just prompted him to think about Rose Tyler in the shower, probably naked. Definitely naked. But then he thought about himself in the shower. Well, all right, in the shower with her. The point was, these thoughts led to a lengthy consideration about just what Rose Tyler would think about his naked body, and given that she’d kindly changed him from his previous self’s clothes to the pjs without sneaking any peeks, he wanted to make sure that when the time came - if, if the time came - for her to sneak a peek, under very different circumstances which included his express approval, she wouldn’t be horrified at what she discovered.

Thus, the Doctor casually ran a hand through his hair and followed Rose down the corridor, agreeing that showers were a good idea, a brilliant invention, and that he’d have to see how it felt to take one in this body. Of course, their paths diverged at the end of the corridor, when Rose went into her bedroom to use her ensuite, and the Doctor went into his. For their very separate showers. Because that was what they did, and how things were, and how things were likely to stay, really, but still, best check out the goods. Just in case.

He stripped off his many layers as he walked through his bedroom, and ended up in front of the mirror in his bathroom, staring at himself in just his pants. Exhaling a long breath, he took the plunge, and lowered the boxer-briefs.

His eyebrows shot upwards.

“Ooh. Hmm.” He turned to the side, then the other, then around and looked over his shoulder to check that his bum was similarly impressive. He rather thought it was. She’d said that before, hadn’t she? That she liked men with a good bum. Rose and Jack - oh, blimey, Jack, he was going to have to talk to her about that at some point - Rose and Jack had got drunk one night in the TARDIS galley and discussed features they liked in their men, and the Doctor distinctly remembered Rose mentioning a good, pert bottom. Which, incidentally, the Doctor sort of thought was quite a good feature of Rose herself, not that he’d ever admit such a thing.

He span around to face the mirror again, putting his hands on his hips and critiquing himself with an assessing eye. Decently proportioned, he reckoned. Not the biggest of all his lives, but then, it was just flaccid. Maybe if he -

He shifted from foot to foot for a few seconds, shying away from the thought. He tried not to actually initiate that, if he could help it. Waking up in the morning with an erection was different, he reasoned, because that was just - that was - _biology._ He couldn’t help that, especially if he’d dreamt - well. He flushed, even though there was no one but him in the room to sense his embarrassment, or indeed read his thoughts.

Still, actively encouraging one, that was inviting trouble, because that would just mean that it’d probably feel really good and he’d waste the entire night. When he could be doing other things, important things, like checking the TARDIS was all right after her tumultuous experience of the last couple of days. He wasn’t human, after all, or a member of any of those species out there who often indulged in matters like self-pleasure.

Despite his rebellious nature when it came to the laws and taboos of his home planet, and despite the fact his planet and his people no longer existed to frown at and judge whatever activities he partook in, there was a leftover part of that stifling upbringing, which had encouraged such high levels of discipline, that remained lodged within him. And it hadn’t really bothered him all that much, especially not since the War began. No time for all that, especially not with other people.

He sniffed, and tilted his head to the side, considering.

He’d never had the chance to tell Rose what he felt for her before he regenerated, and now it was unlikely he’d build up the courage to do so, especially not anytime soon. She would take ages to get used to this new him, he reckoned, ages to actually see him, the him she -

Well, maybe he was just being presumptuous, but he was pretty sure Rose wouldn’t have expended so much effort attempting to get back to him if she didn’t feel something for him, something akin to how he felt about her. But that could have changed, now. She came back to save him, took the heart of the TARDIS inside her and became a goddess of time and then he went and changed on her. He wasn’t sure she’d even remembered all that yet. But he was sure that however sweet she had been today, when he’d stumbled over his words asking her if she still wanted to travel with him, it would take time for her to feel truly comfortable with him again, let alone want anything - anything more.

Heaving a sigh, the Doctor turned from his reflection and stepped into his shower, turning the water onto the hottest temperature he could stand and ducking under the spray, closing his eyes. He let the water rain down on him as he continued to weigh up the pros and cons of hoping that one day, Rose would fall for him and make all this constant conflict of thoughts in his head cease. Because he knew that for all his rigid, repressed stance on his own expression of sexuality, or lack thereof, one word from her could change all that. As things stood, she only had to look at him a certain way with those soft, warm eyes of hers and her fluttering eyelashes for him to long for the ability to show her how he felt.

It was quite possible that he was completely, dangerously in love with her. And because of that, he had this strong compulsion - unlike any pull of attraction he’d felt prior to meeting her - to throw caution to the wind, break all the rules, dance with her in ways he’d not danced with a companion, a friend, before.

He’d be terribly nervous and awkward about it, of course, because even if she did want that, could want that, he hadn’t all that much experience with things of that nature and would probably embarrass himself. Which was why it was absolutely vital that she loved him, first, if they ever…

He wouldn’t mind laughing with her about his own inexperience with all this if she loved him. That what was love was, really, wasn’t it? Being able to laugh together, about anything, even things as intimate and terrifying as sexual intercourse.

Oh, blimey. He reached for his shampoo, and lathered up his hair. Still, he reasoned. If he had all the right apparatus - the really great hair, the decent smile and bum, and the adequate…equipment necessary - then he could at least feign some confidence. Right? Flirt a bit, test the waters. He was only nine hundred years old, ish; he still had it. He nodded to himself. Course he did. And things would start out slow, anyway, wouldn’t they? She wouldn’t want to rush. Kissing was all right, he could deal with that. That would be the first step.

As he ran his hands through his hair, washing out the shampoo, he thought about her running her hands through it. He was pretty sure he was going to enjoy that. Maybe he could ask her to help style his hair tomorrow morning, get a sneak preview of what her fingers tousling the strands would be like.

Then, he thought about how he’d kissed her on the Gamestation. Should he mention it? She’d probably remember it all by herself, given a few days, when the dazed impression of the events that had transpired cleared in her mind. But maybe he should give her the heads-up before then.

He reached for his conditioner. Had to keep this excellent hair in prime condition, after all.

So anyway, if they started out slow, with flirting and kissing and their usual hugs and hand-holding, well, that would be fine, brilliant, actually, and by the time things started to progress he’d probably feel calmer about the whole thing, the relationship thing, the - the sex thing, anyway.

The Doctor tilted his head back under the spray of the shower, making sure to rinse all the conditioner out. Next, he grabbed his shower gel. Popping open the lid, he wrinkled his nose up, not favouring this particular product with his new sense of smell. Or, he realised, as his tongue darted out, his new tastebuds. He hopped out of the shower for a moment, chucking the bottle into the bin and selecting another from the shelf next to his mirror. He caught a glimpse of himself, naked and dripping water everywhere, and wrinkled his nose again. His hair looked awful all flat against his head like that. He’d have to make sure that after his morning shower, he’d blow dry his hair and put a bit of product in it before calling for Rose to come and help him style it. It had to look mildly presentable, or, well, devastatingly sexy, actually, before she saw it.

He wasn’t a man to shy away from the gifts that good fortune had given him. Especially when he had so many less positive traits to counteract.

Shivering a bit, he jumped back into the shower with his new shower gel, and began to wash himself.

Rose was probably done with her shower by now, he reckoned, unless she too liked to look at herself naked and contemplate what her co-habiter would think. His eyes widened as he considered that possibility. _Did_ she wonder about things like that? If she did love him before, as he suspected she had, with that daft old face, did she go so far as to think about that side of things, too? Or was it not a sexual thing, for her, their - their chemistry, their bond?

He bit his lip, leaning against the shower wall. He was pretty sure she’d flirted with him quite a lot, but maybe that was just wishful thinking, or maybe it was just harmless, for her. She had made that comment that had implied she didn’t think of him as a man, before. A bit tactless, that, but maybe him being an alien, to her, was a deal-breaker.

He stood up straight. Oh, no. _Was_ that a deal-breaker? Would it matter to her that he wasn’t human? He looked down at himself, assessing again. He was 98% certain that there was nothing down there that would shock her. Time Lords and humans were essentially the same on the outside, visually-speaking.

Still, maybe the very thought of him not being of Earth-origin was enough to put her off. Well, he sniffed, wishing he had a tie on to adjust in indignation. It would be pretty prejudiced of her if that was the case. After all, she was an alien to him, and he certainly didn’t give two figs about it. Not from that point of view, anyway. He cared about the fact that she was going to wither and die in less than a century, of course, but that was -

He frowned, a swooping feeling in his belly making him feel nauseous. There was so much going against them, so many factors that made the idea of them being together such a bad one. Her humanity, which he loved so much about her, would rob him of her, in the end. That was assuming that she’d even stay with him that long. She could leave, sooner, for someone or something else. Or she could - she could -

He swallowed hard. Humans were so fragile. A knock on the head, a fall down some steps, a nasty virus - anything could kill them, let alone this lifestyle she lived with him, which was definitely not without danger.

Feeling morose, coming down from his high of having a new, vibrant young body to attract Rose in, he slid down the shower wall and just sat there, out of the main torrent of water but still getting sprayed lightly. Hanging his head glumly, he ran a hand over his face. Why was everything so bloody difficult? He’d finally found someone who just - who -

But she wouldn’t be around forever. He’d been occupying his mind with trivial things like wondering if she even fancied him, but the basic fact of the entire matter was that she wouldn’t be here long, not from his perspective. Maybe she wouldn’t even be here _long enough_ to fancy him! Hmph.

A loud knocking jerked him out of his thoughts and he scrambled up and out of the shower.

“Everything okay, Doctor?” he heard Rose call through his bathroom door.

His hearts started to race and he rolled his eyes at himself. He was so hopeless. Grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his lower body, he glanced into the mirror, cringed at the state of his hair but decided to ignore it, and opened the door with a bright, reassuring smile.

“I’m fine,” he said, meeting her concerned gaze. “You all right?”

She fiddled nervously with the hem of her vest top. “Yeah, I just. Um. Well, I wanted to ask you something and then - I’ve just sort of been waiting out here ‘cos I could hear the shower going and - ” She winced. “Sorry, that - that makes me sound creepy. It’s just, I didn’t think you’d be that long, so I thought I’d just wait and then - ”

The Doctor chuckled, reaching out and grabbing her shoulders, squeezing gently. “It’s fine, Rose. What was it you wanted to ask me that couldn’t wait ‘til morning?”

She gave him a sheepish smile. “I…I just wanted to check that you wouldn’t fly us off straight away. I know I said I want to keep travelling with you, and I really, really do, but could we just, I dunno, stay here for a bit? Mum’s been alone so much and it’s still like, festive season and all that, so I thought…”

“The TARDIS needs a rest anyway,” the Doctor interjected, his thumbs stroking against her shoulders without his brain’s actual permission. He’d glare at them if he wasn’t so concerned that Rose might think he was glaring at her. “So we can stay for a while, yes. Always felt like experiencing a New Year’s Eve in London, so we can definitely stay here at least ‘til then.”

Rose beamed up at him, nodding quickly. “That sounds great. Thanks, Doctor.”

He gave a modest shrug, and dropped his hands from her, realising that he probably should’ve done that sooner.

The Doctor then noticed her eyes start to drift below his face, scanning his chest as if she’d just realised he was standing in front of her half-naked.

“Oh,” she murmured, and he grinned.

“It’s not necessarily a requirement, but it certainly works better,” he told her.

Her gaze snapped back up to his face. “What?”

“Showering without any clothes on.”

“Oh,” she said again, and he was quite sure he wasn’t imagining her breath catch, just a bit.

“It’s just that you seem surprised,” he continued, gesturing to his body.

“No, I just - you - ” He watched her flounder, bemused, but frowned at her next words. “You’re all pruny,” she blurted. “Why were you in there so long?”

“Pruny?” he retorted, holding up his hands to have a look. “Oh, well, I suppose…yeah, I was in there a while. Had the water quite hot, too. Still, interesting experience, showering in a new body. Testing the new limits, and all that.” Rose flushed bright pink, and he frowned again, confused. “What? Why are you - oh!” He felt his cheeks inflame to match hers. “Oh, no, no, I didn’t mean - I wasn’t - ” he blustered. Standing straighter, trying to recover his composure, he continued in a haughtier tone, “You humans, that’s always your first thought.”

Rose folded her arms and glared at him. “Excuse me?”

He scratched nervously at the back of his neck. “Well, you lot, always making assumptions to do with…that sort of thing.”

She had that defiant, annoyed expression on her face now and he thought that maybe he might’ve, just possibly, said the wrong thing. Again.

“Are we?” she demanded. “What makes you think I’m even - even interested in making assumptions about things to do with you and your - ” She waved dismissively at his crotch. “That.”

“I don’t! That’s the - that’s the furthest thing from my mind! Which was my point!”

“What, too high and mighty for things of that nature or something, Time Lord?”

“No, I just - ” He rocked back on his heels and folded his arms to match her stance. “You’re being awfully defensive about this, Rose Tyler.”

“Defensive?” she huffed. “No, I’m not. You were the one who took such a long shower, what am I supposed to think when you come out talking about testing your new limits?”

“Limits to do with withstanding temperature and the - the quality of my pores, not - not - ”

Rose pressed her lips together, and he stopped talking and stared at her. Was she going to -

She started to giggle, and his lips twitched.

“The quality of your pores?” she repeated, then snorted.

He ducked his head, chuckling, running a hand through his hair. “I dunno, I panicked.”

Her posture relaxed, her arms dropping to her sides. He mirrored her. “I should probably head to bed,” she said, her lips still pulled into an amused little grin. “Let you get back to checking your pores.”

“It’s very important to makes sure everything’s in order when you get a new body, Rose. Becoming acquainted with oneself - ” He paused. “This sounds like I’m talking about the other thing again, but actually - ”

Rose giggled. “Listen, I get it. I know you don’t do all that stuff. It’s just that Time Lords have vanity issues, I understand.”

“I don’t - I’m not vain.”

“If you say so.” She shrugged.

He squinted at her. “And what do you mean, you know I ‘don’t do all that stuff?’”

She shrugged again, her eyes flitting down to his towel and back up, so quickly it was obvious she was hoping he wouldn’t notice. He leant his side against the doorframe of his bathroom, affecting a casual yet cool pose - or that was what he hoped, anyway - and arched an eyebrow at her.

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she looked at him nervously. “Do you, then?”

He sniffed. “To reiterate, I wasn’t, just then. I really wasn’t. But…occasionally, on a whim, maybe. It’s…not unheard of.”

Her cheeks went red again, but given that he was certain his were the same shade, he didn’t remark on it to try to embarrass her. The conversation had steered into very awkward and dangerous territory, but he couldn’t pull himself back from it because he was too bloody stubborn. And, well, he wanted to clear up any misconceptions she may have been harbouring. For…future reference.

He realised, abruptly, that for all the glum thoughts his pondering in the shower had led to, he was finding it quite easy to fall back into the more optimistic assumptions he’d started with.

Those _ridiculous_ eyes of hers, honestly. And her endless ability to render his capacity for stepping away, for keeping his distance, null and void. And that way her tongue would poke out of her smile. And her lips, and her smile in general, and her giggle. And - oh, just all of her. She made it so easy to want to be with her, no matter the consequences. Every time he had a mere conversation with her - a joke, a fight, serious or trivial - he ended up thinking idiotic stuff about it perhaps not being so necessary to take things slow after all. About how lovely it would be to just speed things right up and kiss her, now, in this very moment.

Luckily, he still had some presence of mind and willpower _not_ to potentially ruin everything by doing that.

“So,” she murmured, then cleared her throat and tried again. “So, um. It must feel weird, having a whole new body to get used to. Experiencing things you’ve…done before, but with a brand new body.”

“Yeah,” he replied, internally telling his hearts to slow down. She was just making conversation, she was just curious. That was Rose all over. Nothing to get excited about. “But, er. Well, I’ve done it several times now. The regeneration thing. So I suppose…it’s not so weird, to me.”

“Oh. Right. Didn’t realise it was a frequent thing…”

“Well, it’s not, really, I - I didn’t last as long in that body as I usually try to - ”

“You didn’t?” she said, her voice catching.

He shook his head. “No. When I first met you, I hadn’t been in that body long. So…” He trailed off for a second, smiling to himself. “I suppose you could say that I was with you for that entire life, more or less. Ha. Fancy that.” Not the most gratifying definition of ‘forever,’ but at least he could give her that.

She tried to smile back at him, but he noticed instantly that it was wobbly, that her eyes had started to fill with tears. Oh, bugger.

“Rose, it’s all right. Like I said before; same man. Same memories. He’s not gone, not really. I’m him.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, glancing away. “Yeah, but…”

He swallowed hard as he watched her blinking furiously, as though she didn’t want him to see her like that. “Hey,” he murmured, taking a step towards her. “Would it be all right if I…if I hugged you?”

Her head jerked up in surprise. “Yeah.” She nodded. “That’s - course.”

“You don’t mind? I understand if it’s…”

“No, it’s fine. Really.”

“I mean, if you’re uncomfortable with the idea then - ”

Rose rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, and he sighed in relief, holding her tight. He felt her bury her face in his chest, felt a bit of moisture there, as though a few tears had leaked out.

“Don’t be afraid of crying, Rose. I won’t be offended,” he murmured, stroking his hand through her hair, hoping to soothe her.

At his words, he heard her sniffle. “I’m okay,” she mumbled.

“You’re not,” he countered, dropping a soft kiss to the top of her head. “You’re handling this all so well, and I’m so grateful for that, Rose. But you don’t have to pretend to be completely okay. I’m not even completely okay.”

She lifted her head to look at him. “You’re not?”

“No.” His hand cupped her cheek, thumb stroking tenderly. “There was so much I had left to do, in that body. So much I wanted to say.”

A crinkle of confusion formed between her brows. “But if…if you’re the same man, then why can’t you still do those things?”

He sighed, and smiled at her half-heartedly. “I still want to. But I feel a little bit like…like the circumstances have meant that - well, that things have been reset, a bit. Back to square one, sort of thing.”

She rubbed at one of her eyes absently. “How do you mean?”

The Doctor couldn’t help but make a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. How could he tell her, how could he even begin to explain? He couldn’t, not yet, not when she didn’t -

“Rose, it’s complicated.”

“Oh.” She paused, then shook her head. “So?”

He let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “So, it would be extremely difficult to deconstruct right now, for starters. It’s late. Both of us need sleep. You look knackered, god knows how long you’ve been awake.”

She huffed a bit. “Yeah, well, been busy, haven’t I?”

“Yeah, you have.” He grinned at her. “Did I say thank you, yet?”

One of her fingers stroked across his lower back and he shivered, realising they still had their arms wrapped around each other. “Dunno. Too tired to remember.”

“Ah. Then,” He pulled back, out of her embrace, to grip her upper arms, meeting her gaze intently. “Thank you. You took excellent care of me.”

She poked his stomach. “Think I remember you saying that I was a fat lot of good, actually.”

“Oh, well, that’s that new rudeness I’ve acquired, sorry about that.”

“New?” she snorted. “Think that might be a constant trait, to be honest.”

“Oi!” he laughed, and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. He lowered his voice. “You’ve been so brave, Rose.”

“Nah.” She shook her head, denying his statement, which was of course utterly ridiculous but he lacked the sufficient energy to debate with her about it at that moment.

“I…I’m so glad you said you’d still travel with me,” he said instead.

“Wouldn’t give this up for the world,” she replied instantly, so firm, so sure.

They stared at one another quietly for a few seconds, until Rose said, “I should let you finish getting ready for bed.” She stood on tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “Night, Doctor.”

He released her, and she started to walk backwards out of his room, smiling shyly.

“Goodnight, Rose,” he whispered back, feeling his heart rate pick back up again. Once she reached the door, she finally turned around, and closed the door behind her as she stepped into the corridor.

The Doctor exhaled a long breath, took a few steps towards his bed, and then flopped onto it gracelessly, letting out a small groan into a pillow before rolling onto his back. He stared up at his coral ceiling, linking his hands on his bare stomach.

He wasn’t sure how it was remotely possible, given the extent of his feelings before she’d entered his room this evening, but now he was approximately five times more in love with her than he’d conceived himself of being, earlier in the shower.

Throwing an arm over his face, he groaned again and muttered, “Oh, bollocks.”


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor awoke slowly on his second day in his new body.

He savoured the well-rested feeling, rolling onto his back and stretching. Kicking back the duvet, however, prompted a discovery that made him scratch at his chin in thought.

“Ah,” he murmured to himself, staring at his erect penis.

He’d gone to bed naked the night before, chucking his towel to the floor and wriggling under the duvet shortly after Rose had said goodnight. The taxing day defeating the Sycorax followed by a pleasant but lively Christmas dinner at Jackie’s had exhausted him, particularly since he’d been thrown into the adventure post-regeneration sickness. Therefore it didn’t surprise him that he’d slept for a full nine hours, whereas usually he would only snatch a few hours at a time.

He also wasn’t surprised by the morning erection, given his preoccupation with assessing the dimensions and capabilities of this new body the night before. He’d stopped shy of allowing himself to see this particular aspect in all its glory, however.

Needless to say, the fortuitous circumstances involving awaking from an incredibly inspiring dream meant that this morning he was rather pleased.

He sat up straight to get a better look, hummed to himself, then bounded out of bed to check himself out in the mirror in the bathroom.

However illogical it was to be so proud of his new dimensions, since it wasn’t as though he had any choice or effort in the matter, he couldn’t help but grin. He knew, realistically, that if he and Rose were to ever - well, if she was ever to see -

She wouldn’t judge, he knew that. She was kind and compassionate to the bone, was Rose. He had no doubt that she’d reassure him even if it looked more like a cocktail sausage than a cock. But he was incredibly pleased with the size of things all the same.

Rose Tyler, he reckoned, would be thoroughly impressed.

Deciding he was done with admiring his own reflection, the Doctor went back to his bed, and slid back under the duvet. He now had an important decision to make.

He could will the erection away - a simple re-routing of his blood flow, easy-peasy. He’d barely have to concentrate.

Or…

Rose had assumed, last night, that this was what he’d meant, by testing his new limits. Reacquainting himself with…himself. But he hadn’t, not in this way. But seeing as it was there, he reckoned there was no harm in taking a few minutes of his day to determine how this new cock of his liked to be touched. And despite his private mantra that he didn’t need or crave this activity, there was no denying that it felt bloody good.

Just as his hand wrapped around his shaft, however, there was a knock on his door. His head hit the wall behind him in frustration and he moved both of his hands to sit atop the duvet, angling himself in such a way that Rose Tyler - who, incidentally, was absurdly good at interrupting him lately - wouldn’t be able to see anything incriminating.

“Yeah?” he called out, in response to the knock.

The door opened slightly and her head poked around, her eyes squeezed shut. “You decent?”

“I’m covered up.”

She opened her eyes. “Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly. “Just wanted to check on you. You’ve been asleep way longer than usual, just wanted to make sure you weren’t still sick.”

“No, no. I’m fine,” he smiled back. “I’ll meet you in the galley for breakfast in a minute.”

“Okay.” She lingered in the doorway, eyeing him suspiciously.

“What?” he asked, striving to keep his expression innocent.

Her response was too quick to be casual. “Nothing! See you in a bit!”

Once she was gone, the Doctor heaved out a sigh, flipped the duvet back off himself, and looked down. “You and I will have to figure things out some other time,” he said ruefully, and focussed his thoughts for a moment in order to soften things up. Well, down.

When he was appropriately unaroused - or appeared to be so, at any rate - he got washed and dressed, had breakfast with Rose, then made his request for her to help him decide how to style his new hair. With her hands running through it, back in his bathroom, the Doctor found it much more difficult to keep his blood flow under control.

Thankfully, Rose was far too preoccupied with taking the mick out of his many hair products to notice.


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor had been having a really hard time of it lately. It was quite a feat, he decided, that his best friend could make living in a bigger-on-the-inside spaceship with her feel like they were sharing considerably less vast living quarters. They were usually pretty much consistently hovering around one another, sharing food, sharing books, even sharing blankets, when they got a bit chilly in the library of an evening. She’d linger in the console room passing him tools whilst he tinkered; he’d make up excuses to explore the TARDIS with her, or sit with her in the garden whilst she occupied herself with her drawings.

Even if she wasn’t in the same room as him, he was aware of her presence. Her stuff was everywhere. Constant reminders of how at home she felt here. Constant reminders of the things she liked, and read, and ate, and wore. Reminders of her, full stop. This new body of his was incredibly keen to be in her vicinity, if possible, and preferably holding her hand.

Even when he closed his eyes, his thoughts more often than not drifted back to her and she’d end up invading his dreams. And, in those times when he awoke from such dreams ready to deal with the inevitable response of his pelvic region, Rose was doing an excellent job of constantly interrupting his attempts at having some…alone time.

Which was why he reckoned it was an incredibly dangerous situation they had currently found themselves in. Trapped in a tiny cell on the planet Forso, having been caught acting ‘suspiciously’ in a local marketplace (honestly, how was he supposed to know the Forsoricks had instigated a no-haggling rule? And that people found haggling with the stall-holders would be suspected of inciting revolutionary feeling?) and now, as he analysed his sudden internal chemical imbalance, he realised they’d been drugged. He was probably going to end up admitting all sorts of unhelpful, secretive things to make the situation terribly awkward and embarrassing.

“Are you all right?” Rose asked warily, and he saw her eyes flit to his clenched fists in concern.

“Yep,” he said, through gritted teeth. “They popped a little gaseous truth serum through the vents of our cell in order to find out our deepest, darkest secrets, but apart from that, I’m just dandy.”

“Truth serum?” she gasped, alarmed. “Thought that was the stuff of comic books and spy novels?”

“Nope, the Forsoricks have a distinct fondness and skill for developing this particular brand. They must have, for it to work on me.”

“Is it gonna hurt you? You look a bit…peaky.”

“No, no. Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. They’re under the impression that I’m human; for you lot, it’d take about half an hour for it to start to work. So they’ll come back then and interrogate us. For me, it works much faster, and by the time they get here, I’ll have metabolised it.”

“Oh. So…how’s it work, then?”

“As soon as a question’s asked, I’ll feel obligated to answer it. Won’t be able to help myself. Will just blurt out the truth, no matter how much I want to keep quiet.”

“Blimey. Sounds intense.”

“Yep.”

“So it’s not working on me yet?”

“Nope.”

“Shouldn’t we, I dunno, test it to make sure?”

“All right. What’s your biggest secret?”

Rose’s cheeks flushed red. “Yeah, okay, no way.” She let out a breath of relief. “Definitely not working yet.”

“Right.” He paused, then tilted his head to look at her with pleading eyes. “Don’t ask me anything that isn’t, um, something that - well, you know, something that I’d ordinarily answer.”

“It’s already working on you, then?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna take advantage of this or anything. God knows I won’t want you quizzing me in half hour.”

“Good. That’s settled then. We’ll just…keep quiet for a bit. Apart from the more harmless stuff.”

“Sure.”

“Thanks, Rose.” He inhaled a deep breath, then released it slowly. “You’re such a good friend. The best.”

“You mean that?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Of course I mean it.” Then his eyes narrowed at her. “What are you giving me that look for? You knew that already.”

“You can be pretty sweet sometimes, you know that?”

“I try to be, on occasion,” he admitted, then pressed his lips together and glared at her playfully.

Rose’s smile widened. “Sorry.” Then, she yawned.

“Tired?” he asked.

“Mmm. Still a bit knackered from the werewolf thing yesterday.”

“That was quite invigorating, wasn’t it?” The Doctor grinned. “ _Dame_ Rose.”

“Ha, yeah. Remind me to tell Mum about that when I next ring her. She’s not gonna believe her ears!”

“Maybe don’t mention the bit about us being banished, though.”

“Yeah, maybe not,” she laughed, and leant her head against his shoulder. He looked down at her fondly, and couldn’t resist dropping a kiss to her hair. She linked her arm through his, snuggling closer. “Bit chilly, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Do you want my jacket?”

“Nah, it’s all right. Thanks.” She glanced up at him with a cheeky smile. “Could use a hug, though.”

His lips twitched, and he let out an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, I s’pose…” Wrapping his arms around her, he willed himself to focus on the wall in front of them instead of the way she felt all pressed against him.

“How you feeling?” she whispered.

The Doctor clenched his jaw. A seemingly harmless question, from her point of view. Bloody truth serum, making his thought process turn the most innocuous question into something in need of a literal and lengthy response. Fighting against the urge to speak, he squeezed her a bit tighter absent-mindedly.

“Hey, need to breathe, here,” she laughed, pressing a hand to his chest. He swallowed hard, glancing at her in time to see her frown. “Your hearts are beating way too quickly. You sure this truth gas thing isn’t poisoning you or something?”

“It’s not poisoning me,” he bit out. “I just.” He let out a noise of frustration, and the truth came pouring out without his permission. “I just can’t stop thinking about the way you fit so perfectly in my arms.”

She blinked at him with her mouth hanging open and he winced, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Sorry,” she murmured, and his superior Time Lord hearing and general hyper-awareness of Rose Tyler’s mannerisms led to him to ascertain that she was currently pulling her bottom lip between her teeth in a nervous gesture.

“It’s okay,” he replied carefully. “I know you didn’t imagine such a question leading me to divulge such a ridiculous and trivial thought.”

“Ri-ridiculous?” she stuttered, drawing back from his embrace. “Why ridiculous?”

“Because we’re just friends.”

“What, and friends can’t, I dunno, enjoy a cuddle now and then?”

She sounded defensive, but her words still formed a question and he couldn’t help but respond. “Yes, of course they can. But the truth is, cuddling can lead to other, more-than-friendly pursuits, can’t it?”

He opened his eyes and watched her throat as she swallowed.

“I…suppose,” she hedged. “But why - ”

The Doctor started to feel a bit panicked. “Please, Rose, don’t - we need to stop talking,” he begged her. “You need to stop asking questions.”

“Okay.” She breathed out roughly. “Sorry.”

“You don’t have to keep saying sorry. I know this is a tricky situation to navigate.”

“Yeah.”

Noticing the anxious way her eyes kept drifting over to him and then away, he scooted closer to her, closing the distance she’d put between them. “We can still…” he murmured. He wrapped her up in his arms again, trying to minimise her shivering.

“Thanks. They could do with a bit of heating in here.”

“Yep. Still, sharing body heat works just as well.”

Rose didn’t respond to that, and he was quite grateful. They sat in silence for a few minutes, snuggled awkwardly together against the wall, the cold stone beneath them making his bum go a bit numb. He wriggled, trying to get comfy, and jostled her slightly.

“How will I know when it’s kicked in for me?”

“Let’s set a control question. I’ll ask you what your favourite colour is, and you see if you can lie, and if you can’t, then we’ll know. Yeah?”

“Sounds good. Try it now,” she insisted.

“Okay. What’s your favourite colour?”

“Orange. Okay, that’s good, I can still lie.”

“Good.” He paused. “I’ve often wondered this; is the correct answer pink or red?”

“Red,” she replied.

“Ah. Interesting.”

“Speaking of, I noticed a really nice red dress in the TARDIS wardrobe the other day. Could we maybe go to a fancy party or something soon? I’d love to try it out.”

“What sort of fancy party are you after?”

“Don’t mind. Something…showbizzy. Not royalty, more sort of - ooh! Can we go to a film premiere?”

The Doctor chuckled. “If you like.” He hummed to himself, thinking. “Actually, I know just the place.” He gave her a sidelong look. “Doesn’t have to be an Earth film, right?”

Her eyes lit up. “A film premiere on an alien planet? Count me in!”

“I’ll take us tomorrow night.”

“Just make sure it’s somewhere where a slinky red dress’ll fit in. Don’t want to end up in prison for daring to bare a bit of leg or something.”

“Bare? Leg?” he mumbled, tugging on his ear.

“Yeah, it’s got a bit of a slit up one side,” she explained, gesturing to her left thigh. “Comes up to about here.”

“Right.” The Doctor gulped. “Alien film premiere, slinky red dress. Got it.”

“It’ll be nice to dress up a bit. Haven’t done that in ages.”

“You don’t need to,” he murmured.

“Hmm?”

“Well, you always look - ” He pressed his lips together, avoiding Rose’s gaze. He heard her giggle quietly, which was quite gratifying. At least all this, him almost stumbling over himself to compliment her, was making her happy.

“What’s your favourite film, Doctor?”

“The Muppet Movie,” he responded instantly.

That set Rose off giggling even more.

“What?” he said, indignant.

“Dunno, it’s just funny. You - last of the Time Lords, big scary Oncoming Storm - and you don’t half act like a kid when it comes to telly.”

“It’s a classic!”

“Sure.”

“How rude.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Anyway, you watched it with me at Christmas, and I happen to know you enjoyed it.”

“Yeah, but you’re over nine hundred years old.”

“Does that bother you?” he asked suddenly.

“What? No. Why would you think that?”

“I just worry, sometimes, that’s all.” He tried to shut himself up, but he couldn’t help it. “There’s such a big age gap between us. Some people would find that off-putting. Not to mention the fact that we’re different species - ”

“Doctor, what are you going on about?” She paused, and folded her arms. “Hold on, do _you_ have a problem with it? With me being just human?”

“No, of course not. And there’s nothing ‘just’ about being human.”

“Then why would you think I’d care?”

“Because I’m really, really…old.”

“So?”

He almost shivered at the intense, defiant look in her eyes. “Okay,” he said. “So it doesn’t matter to you at all, then.”

“Nope.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. It’s - comforting. That you don’t just think of me as some older, authoritative figure.”

Rose scoffed. “Authoritative? You? Maybe when you’re up against the Daleks, but Doctor, there’s no way I’m ever letting you boss me around.”

The Doctor beamed at her. “No?”

“Never. Not unless - ” Her cheeks went red, and she broke off.

“Unless what?”

“Nothing.”

He regarded her carefully. “Favourite colour?”

“Orange. Phew, still not kicked in, then.”

“Apparently not.”

“Out of interest, what’s _your_ favourite colour, Doctor?”

“It’s always been a very particular shade of blue, TARDIS-blue, in fact; though lately, I admit that certain other colours have taken my fancy,” he said, his words streaming out quickly, “Such as pink and yellow.”

“Pink and yellow?” Rose wrinkled her brow in thought. “That rings a bell. Have you told me that before?”

“No.” His heart rate picked up again and he fought the urge to swear in frustration.

“Oh.” She paused. “Do you like my cooking?”

“To be honest I don’t think it’s one of your strengths,” he blurted out, then slapped his hand over his mouth.

“Rude,” she said, swatting his arm, but then she giggled. “I knew it. Look, I can’t be good at everything.”

“That’s true. There are lots of things you _are_ good at.”

“Like what?”

“Now you’re just fishing for compliments that I very much can’t help but give you in this precarious situation. You’re extremely good at saving the world, you have a very amusing sense of humour, your capacity for compassion never fails to awe me, and I’m fascinated to find out just how good these famed gymnastic skills of yours are.” He blew out a long breath.

“Wow,” she murmured, looking quite speechless.

“I’m going to come out of this cell so bloody embarrassed, Rose Tyler.”

“I know it’s really mean, and I might be a bit evil, but you’ve no idea how tempting it is to ask you stuff right now.”

“Then I admire your restraint in not doing so. Because that’s what good friends do.”

“Refrain from asking personal questions? I don’t think it is, actually.”

“Well, in this case, when I can neither deflect nor lie, I rather think it ought to be.”

“Right, gotcha. No personal questions from me.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s just…”

“What?”

She shifted around a bit, turning to look up at him. “You can talk to me about stuff, you know. I don’t mean now, but like, in general. Best friends, they…share things.”

He studied her expression carefully. “You - you think I’m too private? That I don’t share enough?”

“It’s…” She shrugged. “Look, I understand that it’s just not your way. But, I dunno, sometimes - it might be nice, that’s all, if you told me things. I mean, god, you know practically everything about me. Feels a bit unequal at times, that’s all.”

His hearts sank at this news. “I didn’t realise.”

“It’s okay, I - I’m just being daft.” She moved back to her previous position, resting her head on his upper arm.

“No, you aren’t. You don’t have to invalidate your own feelings just because you think I don’t want to hear about them.”

She sniffed. “Do you, then? Want to hear about them?”

“Yes.”

Rose was quiet for a moment. Then, she continued, “I s’pose it can just get a bit embarrassing, being the open book in this…friendship.”

“Wait.” He dropped his arms from around her, scrambling to his knees so that he could meet her eyes. “You think you’re an open book?”

“Well, yeah. Like I said. You know practically everything about me. Feels like you can read my mind half the time.”

“Rose, I don’t.”

“I know you don’t really, but it’s like you know me so well that you can without even trying.”

“No, seriously, Rose, I’ve no idea what goes on in that mind of yours. You are a complete mystery to me, as far as that’s concerned.”

Rose rolled her eyes.

“I mean it. Obviously, I mean it, because this serum’s making me blurt out the truth left, right and centre this evening. So you know I’m being earnest when I say this, Rose: I’d give anything for you to share what you think with me.”

“But…you’re always so perceptive. Blimey, you can even tell when I’m like, on my period and stuff.”

“That may be something personal about you that I can sense but it’s not…it’s not the same as knowing how you feel, is it?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “S’pose not. But like…my life in general, the stuff that’s happened in my past, my family and friends - you know all that like the back of your hand.”

“Yes,” he granted.

“And I understand that what you’ve gone through…” She let out a whoosh of breath. “I understand that I wouldn’t even begin to be able to know the depth of all that pain. So I get that it’s hard for you to talk about your life, I do. But, I dunno, I guess it just doesn’t stop me wondering if I’m not as good a friend to you as you are to me, given that I know barely anything about you and - ”

“Rose,” he interrupted quickly, grabbing her hands. He stroked his thumbs across hers as he assured her, “I couldn’t ask for a better friend than you. And you know me better than anyone.” The words kept coming; he couldn’t help it, even without her questioning him, “You’ve no idea what you mean to me, how grateful I am to have you in my life. How perfect you are for me - ” His jaw clamped shut, and he shook his head in frustration at himself.

She squeezed his hands, then linked their fingers together. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be making you talk about all this right now.”

“I just don’t want you to think that I don’t value you immensely, because I do, and, well, really - I don’t deserve you.”

“Don’t be silly,” she murmured, letting go of his hands to draw him into a hug. “God, this serum’s done a number on you, hasn’t it?”

He stroked his hands down her back, burying his face into her neck, breathing in deeply. “Mmm.”

“I’m so lucky to have _you_ , Doctor, don’t you realise that?”

“No. You’d be much better off without me,” he mumbled morosely.

She leant backwards to fix him with an incredulous look, but kept her arms looped around his neck. “That’s really what you think?”

“Yes. You could live a proper human life, Rose, full of all those things that humans want to do and have and experience.”

“Like what?” she snorted.

“Like sex and romance and babies and all that.”

Rose laughed. “Yeah, those things are _really_ high on my priority list,” she said, voice heavy with sarcasm.

“They could be, someday.”

“I don’t want a boring old normal human life on Earth, Doctor.”

“But - ”

“I don’t want babies, I don’t want a proper job, I don’t want…I dunno, bills and shit. I want to be with you. Travelling, I mean. I want to travel with you for the rest of my life.”

He sniffed, fighting against the smile his lips wanted to pull themselves into. “Really?”

She tugged playfully on one of the hairs at the base of his head. “Yes.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want that?”

“No. I want you to be with me forever.” His eyes widened. “Rose,” he said warningly.

Her grin was sheepish. And also, lovely. “Sorry, again. But that was…that was really sweet, Doctor.”

“Yes, well.”

“Think we’d get on each other’s nerves if that really happened, though. You’d get fed up with me eventually.”

He tightened his arms around her. “No,” he said simply.

They stared at one another for a few seconds, then Rose’s expression changed, and he watched as she struggled to speak. Or, he realised abruptly, the opposite; she was struggling _not_ to speak. He quickly asked her his control question.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

“Red,” she said. “And there’s absolutely no way that I can lie about that right now. God, this feels so weird. I just want to talk and talk and talk - didn’t realise it’d be like this. Thought it would just, well, I don’t even know. But I want to blurt everything out, all my thoughts. Is that normal? What shall I do if I start blabbing about the TARDIS and stuff to the interrogators? Oh my god, what if I get us killed? What if I tell them about your allergy to aspirin? What if I tell them about the time that I wet myself on a rollercoaster when I was eleven? Oh fuck, that was so not relevant. Why did I just say that? God, this is so embarrassing, what if I start saying all the stuff I wouldn’t normally say, like how good your bum looks in those pinstripes - Doctor! You have to shut me up!”

The Doctor’s eyebrows had steadily risen during her speech, and he hastily shook himself out of his speechlessness, quickly and gently putting his hand over Rose’s mouth. “It’s going to be okay, Rose. They’ll pop by in a minute and now that I’ve almost metabolised the truth serum, I’ll be able to fool them by strategically lying. They’ll probably interrogate me first, given that I was the one who was initially arrested - which’ll be useful, because then I can distract them and get us out of here before you get questioned. All right? So you’ve nothing to worry about.” She mumbled something against his palm and he moved his hand away. “Sorry?”

“I said, you have really soft hands and I wish you’d touch me more. Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She pulled his hand over her mouth again, glaring at him.

His lips twitched. “You - uh, you seem to be exhibiting the effects of this serum more strongly than me. You’re human, and thus less able to resist the impulse of blurting these things out. But don’t worry; I promise, once we’re back on the TARDIS, I won’t tease you about this.” He tilted his head. “Much. Though I would like to hear where, exactly, you’d like these apparently soft hands of mine to touch.” He cursed under his breath. “I didn’t mean to say that. You’re distracting me.”

She pulled his hand away from her mouth. “Do I distract you often?” she asked, eyebrow arching.

“All the bloody time.” He cringed. “Stop it.”

“Sorry, can’t. Tit for tat, and all that.”

“Don’t even - ”

Rose shifted closer, her knee sliding between his. “I didn’t realise. Thought you were oblivious. Does this mean that you’ve noticed all the flirting I’ve been doing?”

“You’ve been flirting with me? I mean, I knew that, but - you’ve been flirting with me _intentionally?_ As in, with intent?”

“Oh, yeah,” she replied, nodding. “What, you thought I was just messing around?”

“I didn’t know what to think. Thought perhaps it was just harmless fun for you, that you didn’t realise how much I wanted you to - ” His eyes widened, and he shuffled to the side, out of her personal space. “Rose, we need to stop. We’re escalating things by bouncing off each other.”

“Talking of bouncing, have you ever thought about me - ”

“Rose!” he said quickly, jumping to his feet. He backed up into the corner of the cell. “Shhh! Stop talking, just - just stop for a sec. Let me concentrate. Need to fully metabolise this thing before they come for us.”

She shuddered, then, her eyes clearing. “Oh, god. Sorry. Did I really just…blimey, this is the worst day of my life.”

“I know it’s a bit embarrassing but really? This?” He wrinkled his nose up.

“No, you’re right. The worst day of my life was when you regenerated.”

The Doctor went rigid. A lump came to his throat, and they stared at each other with wide eyes.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said quickly. “I don’t mean that I don’t - that you - that this you isn’t - ”

“It’s okay.” He sniffed, and adjusted his tie, glancing around the tiny room, anywhere but at her. Clearing his throat, he muttered, “Well, that’s sobered me up. Think I’ve got rid of it all, now. Ask me something.”

“Have I hurt your feelings?”

“No.”

“Liar. Oh, god. Okay, so it’s good you’ve got rid of the truth thingy but, listen, Doctor.” She came up to him, tugging him by the lapels to make him look at her. “I didn’t mean it to sound so callous.”

“It’s all right, I understand. He…that me, you…” He swallowed hard. “I understand.”

“No, you really don’t,” she countered. “It broke my heart, watching you die, watching you change.”

He closed his eyes, her words slicing into his chest. “Right, yes, I can see how that would…”

“It was the worst day of my life because I thought I’d lost you. And I did, in a way. That you. The you that…that loved me. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t still - ”

The Doctor’s eyes shot open and he grabbed her by the shoulders. “What? What did you just say?”

She frowned. “I - I said that it doesn’t mean I don’t still - ”

“No, before that.”

“Um. Well, that I lost the you that loved me. And I get it, it’s fine, I’m over it, but - ”

“Rose, shut up for second.” His hands slid upwards from her shoulders to cup her jaw. “Why would you separate me out like that? Think that - that _he_ loved you?”

Her eyes blinked quickly, and he was startled to see them moisten. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her.

“Oh. Didn’t he, then? I thought…”

“Rose, of - of course, but - ”

The cell doors slammed open, then, and one of the prison officers announced in a gruff voice, “Doctor, this way please.”

Slowly, the Doctor slipped his hands away from Rose’s face. Not breaking eye contact with Rose, he said to the officer, “Just a moment.”

“No. Now. It’s time for your interrogation.”

The Doctor glanced at the Forsorick irritably, a retort ready on his tongue, a retort that might have been a bit colourful and creative. But Rose’s hand settled on his chest, a comforting, grounding weight, a reminder. He looked back at her and she jerked her head towards the door. He couldn’t give them away now, had to keep up the pretence and get him and Rose out of here. Sighing heavily, he moved away from her, hating the loss of her touch. He walked out of the door, which was locked back up behind him, following the officer down the corridor to meet his inquisitors.

He felt awful for leaving Rose in that state, for nearly making her cry, for making her think that he didn’t - oh, blimey, this was going to be such a mess. How would they get back to normal after this, once they were back on the TARDIS? How would she even bear to look at him?


	4. Chapter 4

“Rose, come on, let’s go!” he whispered quickly, as he sonicked open the lock on the cell. He held out his hand and she grabbed it, and then they were hurrying down the corridor. She didn’t speak as they moved, but a brief glance at her confirmed that she was struggling not to.

Once they were outside, she took in a deep breath, her posture relaxing. “Oh, that’s better.”

He made sure their pace remained swift as he led them to the TARDIS, glancing over his shoulder to check they weren’t being followed. “Yes, the fresh air will do you good,” he said absently. “The effects of the truth serum will start to wear off for you soon.”

“Thank god. How’d you get us out of there, then?”

“Distracted them with my non-stop gob, of course. Tricked them into handing me back the sonic screwdriver. Made a bit of a ruckus. Got the guards to run around over an ‘emergency’ down the hall, then came to get my trusted friend out of trouble.” He flashed her a grin, which she responded to with a weak, half-hearted one of her own. He concentrated on the path in front of him again, swallowing thickly.

With the TARDIS in sight up ahead, they started to sprint. The Doctor was just thinking about how relatively easy it had been, breaking out of that prison, when an arrow flew past his head and embedded itself into the TARDIS’ exterior wall. “Ah. Quick, quick, in, in, in,” he mumbled, pushing his key into the lock, turning it swiftly and shoving Rose inside.

He closed the doors behind him and felt another arrow hit them. “Let’s get out of here.”

Once he’d fiddled with the controls to send them into the vortex, and blew out a long breath and turned to Rose. “You okay?”

“No.”

“What’s your favourite colour?”

“Red. Damn. It’s still working.”

He watched her shiver, and winced. “You look freezing.” He slid off his jacket, and draped it around her shoulders. “Why don’t you go and take a nice hot bubble bath? I’ll meet you in the library with tea and toast in a bit. How does that sound?”

“Lovely,” she murmured, her eyes drifting over his arms, where he was rolling up his sleeves. “Wish you’d do that more often.”

“Toast and tea?” he asked, confused. “We do that all the time.”

“No, that,” she said, pointing, then running her hands up his forearms. “It’s sexy.” She clenched her eyes shut. “Bloody hell.”

“It’s all right,” he whispered, squeezing her hands, lifting them off him. “Go take that bath. Take as long as you need.”

She nodded, and turned from him to make her way down the corridor. The Doctor sagged against the console, heaving a sigh. He had no idea what he was going to say to her later, but he knew they had to talk. Preferably, she’d start it off so he didn’t have to, though he knew he owed her the rest of his explanation, the one he’d started in the cell before being taken off and interrogated. Running his hand over his face wearily, he propelled himself forward, heading to the galley.

::

When Rose entered the library a little while later, she was wringing her hands together anxiously. The Doctor patted the spot beside him, encouraging her to sit, but she took the chair opposite instead. He tried not to read too much into that.

“Favourite colour?”

“Orange,” she lied, then smiled. “Oh, thank god for that.”

“Back to normal,” he said cheerily, leaning across the coffee table between them to hand her a mug of tea.

“Ta.” She took a few sips, and he watched her, and then she shifted in her seat and he wondered if he was unnerving her so he focussed his gaze on his own tea instead.

“So…” she murmured, breaking the awkward silence.

“Yeah.”

“I - I dunno if I can just ignore what happened earlier.” She bit her lip.

“Me neither,” he sighed, putting his mug on the table.

“Doctor. When you - how does it - when you regenerate. I know you’re the same man, and you have all your memories. But do you, like, _feel_ as though you did all those things? Or is it like watching a - I dunno - a movie of someone else’s life? Or looking at another bloke’s photo album, sort of thing?”

He blinked at her silently for a few moments, astounded by her question. “Rose, it was me, I did all those things. _I_ spent all that time with you. I remember it because it happened to _me_ , and all the memories that get transferred, it’s - the thoughts and feelings associated with them are still there, too. It’s not like I just, I don’t know, upload the data to a new body. I _am_ him. I feel….what he felt.”

“So…” She hesitated, fiddling with the hem of her top. “So when you said that stuff, earlier -”

The Doctor stood up, stepping around the coffee table to kneel in front of her. “Look at me,” he murmured, and her watery eyes met his gaze steadily. He placed his hand on her knee, his thumb stroking across the denim in soft, soothing motions. “There is nothing that could stop me. Not regeneration. Not anything. I’ll - ” He broke off as his voice quivered, and cleared his throat. “This is it, for me. You. Always.”

Rose’s breath caught. She took his hand, entwined their fingers, and whispered, “Me too.”

The corner of his mouth lifted into a half-smile. “Even though I’ve changed my face? Well. My everything, physically-speaking.”

“Yeah. You’re still the Doctor.”

“I am.”

Playing with his fingers, she continued, “You’re still the same man who kissed me on the Gamestation.”

He tugged on his ear. “Ah. Yeah…about that. Sorry. I suppose I thought it’d be a bit romantic.”

She smiled, and lifted her free hand, ruffling his hair. “It was. Just a smidge.” Her tongue touched the corner of her mouth for a moment and then she asked, “When Cassandra kissed you on New Earth. Did you know it wasn’t really me?”

“No. Not at first.” He glanced up at her shyly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I confess that for the briefest moment I just thought you couldn’t resist me.”

“Your ego,” Rose laughed.

The Doctor shrugged, and got to his feet. “Shift over a bit,” he said, squeezing in next to her on the armchair. It was only meant for one person, really, but it was just about big enough to accommodate them both, if their thighs pressed in close together - which was, admittedly, his goal with the manoeuvre. Lifting his arm, he sneaked it around her shoulders and she slotted herself into his side, throwing her own arm over his torso, hugging him loosely.

Resting her cheek against his chest, she said, “I left your jacket in my room.”

“That’s all right. Got you here to keep me warm.” He stroked his hand across her shoulder. “This dressing gown is very soft. Might have to get one of my own.”

“Mmm, it’s like being wrapped up in a fluffy heaven,” she informed him. “You gonna go for a pink one, too?”

He chuckled, burying his nose into her hair. “Maybe I’ll just steal yours.”

“But then I’d be naked.” The Doctor’s posture stiffened, and Rose started giggling. “I’m kidding! I have pyjamas on.”

“Ah.” He paused. “Which ones?”

“The ones with the sheep on them.”

“Ohhh, those ones.” He closed his eyes, picturing them.

“Why did your voice just go all dreamy?” she grinned, lifting her head to look at him.

He opened one eye. “I might be a bit fond of those ones. You know, the shorts being so short, and all that.”

Rose placed hand to her chest, feigning a gasp at his impropriety. He just grinned at her.

“You do know I have sexier pyjamas, right?” she teased.

“Impossible.”

“Went out and bought a very impractical satin number for a certain someone’s viewing pleasure, actually.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“And sometimes,” she said, leaning in close, her voice low. He regarded her curiously, hanging onto her every word. “Sometimes, I even mix and match.”

The Doctor laughed, and trailed his finger along her jaw. “The short shorts with sheep on them and a silky top half?”

Rose shrugged a shoulder, her eyes lighting up with mischief. “Could do.”

“Mmm,” he replied thoughtfully. “I’m ninety-eight percent certain that no one could resist that ensemble.”

“Not even you?”

“Not even me.”

She swept her palm across his chest, smoothing out the wrinkles of his shirt. “Got any other weaknesses?”

“You’ve no idea.”

“Like that purple top I wore on New Earth, for instance?”

He cupped her jaw, and drew her closer to murmur seriously, conspiratorially, “You weren’t very subtle with the buttons.”

“That was not me,” she insisted, poking his chest. “That was Cassandra.”

“Rose, by the time we were back on the TARDIS having our post-adventure cuppa - by which point, I hasten to add, Cassandra had been vanquished from your mind for quite some time - the shirt was even _more_ unbuttoned.”

“It was not!”

“It really was.”

“Well, can’t help it if it popped open accidentally.”

“Right, because your breasts are of such prominent dimensions as to - ” She whacked his arm and he stopped. “What?”

“It’s incredibly rude to insult the size of a woman’s boobs, Doctor, and a pretty stupid thing to do if you ever hope to see them.”

His eyes widened. “I wasn’t insulting them!” he insisted, his eyes flitting down. Her fluffy dressing gown was quite sufficient in hiding them from his gaze, however, so he returned to her face swiftly. “I would never. I was just making a comment that it was unlikely that they engineered several of your buttons to fall open of their own accord.”

“Hmm.” She eyed him suspiciously.

“I happen to think that your - ahem, your - ”

Rose started to giggle. “It’s okay, I know what you really think of them.”

“You do?”

“Knew I hadn’t imagined you sneaking glances.”

“Yes, well.” He cleared his throat. “If I remember rightly, _somebody_ admitted today that they ogle my bum.”

She stuck out her tongue at him, then shrugged a shoulder. “Amongst other things.”

Her arms moved to encircle his neck, her fingers playing with his hair. To help her in her quest, he encouraged one of her legs to move over his, prompting her to settle comfortably astride his right thigh.

“Rose,” he whispered, just as she leant in to close the distance between their mouths. His hands held her firmly around the waist, his fingers submerged in fluffy fabric. “I want you.” She made a small, happy sound, and touched her lips to his; he returned the pressure, his eyes fluttering closed, but tilted his head back after the softest brush of her tongue. “Wait, I wasn’t finished,” he continued, opening his eyes.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly, “Go on?”

The Doctor exhaled roughly, hoping he wouldn’t deter her from kissing him with his next words. “I need us to take things slow.”

Rose nodded. “Okay.” She glanced down, though, quirking a doubtful eyebrow at what she could evidently see straining against his trousers.

He chuckled awkwardly. “Yes. Like I said. I want you. But, er. It’s all very overwhelming. I was hoping that perhaps we could just…kiss. For now.” His brows drew together, worried. “Is that…”

She leant forwards again, giving him a quick peck on his lips. “Fine by me.” Then, she tilted her head. “Is proper snogging allowed, though? Like…with tongues.”

The Doctor tugged her closer, tightening his arms around her waist. “Definitely.”

Rose grinned. “Phew.”

When she next kissed him, he was ready for her, one hand sweeping up her back and into her hair as he altered the angle, deepening the kiss, groaning into her mouth as her tongue slid against his. They snogged leisurely for a little while, moving away for quick snatches of breath before returning to one another’s lips. The Doctor couldn’t refrain from moaning at the sensation of her hands raking through his hair, and when he pulled Rose more securely into his lap, her thighs straddling his, he struggled not to buck upwards. He really did want them to take it slowly, to ease into that side of things, but being so wrapped up in her at last, touching her, kissing her, it was making it increasingly difficult to remember why rushing into more would be such a bad idea.

Slipping his hands between them, he untied her dressing gown, sneaking in to grab her hips. As she tugged his bottom lip between her teeth and then sucked, he rocked her against him, tearing his mouth from hers to hear her throaty groan more clearly. His lips moved down her neck, and she grasped his shoulders, fingers digging into his shirt as she angled herself against his erection, grinding down. He sucked on her neck in response, struggling not to curse aloud at how good the pressure, the heat of her, felt for him.

Before he even properly registered what his hands were doing, he was cupping her bum, his fingers slipping under those tiny pyjama shorts of hers to touch bare skin.

“Oh, blimey,” he mumbled, pausing his nibbling of her collar bone, panting for breath in the crook of her neck.

“We can stop,” she said, her voice straining as she stilled the movement of her hips. “Sorry, got carried away there, but we - we can stop.” She stroked through his hair. “Doctor?”

He lifted his head, stared into her dark eyes. “I…”

“I don’t mind,” she said, smiling at him tenderly. She traced the tip of one of her fingers over his left sideburn. “If it’s too much, please say.”

The Doctor swallowed, trying to find his voice.

“I can just - ” She let out a little laugh. “- climb off you and we’ll go take very cold, very separate showers and we can start again with the taking things slow tomorrow. If you want.”

“I thought perhaps it’d be different,” he blurted out.

Her eyebrows drew together. “How d’you mean?”

“I thought I’d panic, thought I wouldn’t want to - to do everything all at once.” He paused, pressing his tongue to the back of his teeth in thought. “From what I’ve learnt of humans, and all your rituals and ‘bases’ and favouring of chronology, it seems like there ought to be a natural order, a natural progression of things.”

“I guess…” she hedged. “But it doesn’t really matter, what order you do things in. Or the speed at which you do them.”

“Right. Except…” He chuckled, feeling embarrassed.

“What is it?” she prompted. Her eyes were watching him carefully, and so kindly.

“I assumed it would be feasible to take this step by step. A bit of kissing here, a little touching there. Gradual but increasing levels of nakedness…”

“Yeah…?”

“But I just, I want to do everything, all at once. I want to undress you right now and kiss you, everywhere, and I want to feel the heat of you and taste you and hear the sounds you make when you - ”

Rose put her hand over his mouth, silencing him, as she squirmed in his lap. “Wait. Sensory overload right now.”

“Tell me about it,” he muttered against her palm.

“If you want us to stop then you are gonna have to stop with the dirty talk.” 

His hands on her bum squeezed, and she squeaked in surprise, withdrawing her hand from his mouth.

“Dirty talk?” he queried, frowning. “Was that what that was?”

“Um…well, sort of, yeah.”

“Oh. I suppose I’ve only thought about that phenomenon with regards to things _you_ say.”

“When have I ever - ”

“I mean in my head.”

“Ohh. Right.” She grinned. “You’ve been thinking about this, then?”

“It’s actually been a bit ridiculous, the amount I’ve imagined this, yes.”

“Not normal Time Lord behaviour?”

“Nope.” He moved his hands away from her bum and to her arms, easing them out of the sleeves of her dressing gown.

Rose started to help him, shrugging it off and letting it drop to the floor in front of the armchair.

Her nipples were peaked against the thin material of her vest top, and he got a bit distracted by this fact for a few seconds.

“Doctor?” she said, sounding amused.

“Ah, right. Where was I?”

“Undressing me, apparently.”

“I…can I?”

“If you want to, yeah.”

He whipped her vest top off pretty much immediately, and stared a bit more. “Magnificent,” he murmured.

She looped her arms back around his neck. “Not too small?” she said pointedly.

The Doctor’s palms met her breasts for the first time, and he sighed contentedly to himself. “Hmm? Oh! I really wasn’t insinuating such a thing earlier - ”

“I know,” she laughed. “It’s okay.”

He gave a tentative, experimental squeeze, and delighted in her gasp. “Perfect.”

Rose undid his tie, sliding it from around his neck. Her fingers hovered over his shirt buttons and she looked at him for permission. He nodded, and she began to slowly take off his shirt. By the time she was pushing it backwards over his shoulders, trying to tug it down his arms, they were kissing again, frantically, taking turns haphazardly sucking on each other’s tongues, lips, jaws.

His shirt finally discarded, he pressed her against him, eager to feel the touch of her bare breasts against his chest. “You’re so warm,” he whispered, trailing his mouth along her throat. “So vibrant.” He nuzzled her jaw. “I can hear, _feel_ , your heart beating, so fast, so…”

Rose ground down on him, and he groaned. “Are we…can we…?” she asked, running her hands down his chest. She reached his fly and he whimpered out an affirmative response.

She unzipped him, and they wriggled around a bit so that she could shove his trousers down enough to palm his cock, where it was tenting his boxer briefs rather prominently. Over the cotton, she wrapped her hand around him, squeezed lightly.

“Oh, Rose,” he whispered. His own hands had been unable to settle on any one part of her for some time, sweeping across her back, her chest, cupping her bum; but now he knew exactly where he wanted to explore. He stroked over the damp fabric of the front of her pyjama shorts with firm, seeking touches that had her hips rocking. And then, inside, slipping two fingers beneath the hem of the shorts to find her hot, and wet, and he teased her, sliding through her folds, brushing her clit before returning to her entrance, circling, dipping in just slightly.

She moaned out his name and he shuddered in delight, and then she angled herself, lowered herself, onto his fingers, exhaling a ragged breath. He watched, mesmerised, as her mouth fell open and her eyes fluttered shut. Slowly, savouring the new experience, he withdrew his fingers before thrusting them back in, starting up a quick pace that had her rotating her hips helplessly in pleasure. When his thumb sought out her clit, she arched her back, pushing her breasts near to his face, and he took the opportunity to become better acquainted with them, sucking each nipple in turn. Distracted, her hand left his cock, both of her palms moving to rest on his shoulders, holding on tight as he brought her closer to her peak. 

“Doctor,” she gasped, opening her eyes, tilting her head towards him, resting her forehead on his. “Gonna…oh, god…”

Rose trailed off as her muscles clenched down on his fingers, throwing her head back again, exposing her gorgeous throat, and he was as breathless and speechless as she was as he watched her come. She was so beautiful, so completely wonderful, making tiny, sexy noises as she panted for breath, writhing above him.

"Woah," she murmured, before taking her bottom lip between her teeth. The corners of her mouth turned up, fashioning her with a coy expression, and he moved a hand up to cup her cheek.

"Come here," he whispered, drawing her into a kiss. Her arms twined around his neck, bringing their chests in contact again, and she shifted over him, the motion making him all too aware of the pressure in his groin. Groaning into her mouth, he tugged on her shorts, eager to get them off and out of the way. She assisted him by lifting her legs at the appropriate times, and soon the small piece of fabric had joined the other clothes on the floor. Breaking the kiss, his hands and eyes admired her completely naked form, from her shy grin to her glistening inner thighs. 

"Like what you see, Time Lord?" she teased, playing with the hair at the base of his head.

"You’re incredibly beautiful." He ran a finger all the way down from her sternum to her curls, then met her eyes. "I’m so lucky."

She shook her head. “You’re not the only one, mister. I’m feeling _very_ lucky to have you in my life right now, especially after what you just did to me.” With a mischievous tilt of her head, she then said, “Think it’s time you joined in with the naked thing.”

"Gladly," he agreed. But just as he went to remove his pants, the lights flickered and the loud clanging call of the TARDIS’ distress signal permeated the room. “Oh, for the love of - ” he groaned, his head flopping backwards against the chair.

“Doctor?” She winced at the noise, putting her hands over her ears. “What’s - “

“Every bloody time!”

“What do you mean?”

“Interruptions, Rose Tyler. They keep cropping up.” He eased her off of him and stood up, adjusting himself in his pants and pulling his trousers back over his hips. “I’d better go check something hasn’t crashed into us, I suppose,” he grumbled, making for the door.

She stumbled to her feet. “Wait, wait - when you say interruptions - who and what and when have these interruptions taken place, exactly?”

He ran a hand through his hair, glancing over at her sheepishly. “Come with me and I’ll explain on the way to the console room.”

Rose bent down, grabbing his shirt from the floor, and he averted his eyes, trying to get himself together. Once she’d put it on, they hurried down the corridor, darting worried glances at each other as the lights continued to flicker on and off.

"So, er - interruptions?" she prompted, as they increased their pace. 

The Doctor blew out a long breath. “Well, the thing is, for the last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to, er - investigate, let’s, yes, let’s go with that, I’ve been trying to investigate this new body and all its…features. But things kept happening, kept getting in the way, so I’ve not had a chance to…well, you know.”

“What, you haven’t, you haven’t…” She lowered her voice, “Wanked, yet?”

He sighed heavily. “No! You have this knack for creeping up on me at just the wrong moment!”

“Oh, pardon me for wanting to spend time with you! If you’d just told me you and your -” She waved at it dismissively as she pushed open the door to the console room. “- thing wanted some quality alone time, then - ”

The Doctor rushed to the console, dragging the screen around to have a look. He twiddled with a few knobs and levers, internally begging the TARDIS to cease with the alarm bells. To Rose, he continued, “Yes, that’s really something I can just bring up in casual conversation, isn’t it: ‘Rose, would you mind not popping into my room unannounced, I’m trying to masturbate.’ Would’ve gone down a treat, that, I’m sure.”

In his peripheral vision as he crouched to the grating, yanking it up to fiddle with some wiring, he saw her fold her arms.

“You could’ve just told me to bugger off and give you some privacy! That’s what I do when you’re being particularly persistent with your presence!”

The abrupt silence in the room as the TARDIS’ cloister bells stopped ringing was _deafening._

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and gaped at Rose, partly because of her outstanding alliteration, but mainly because of the implication hidden in her words. “You mean, all those times - every morning, when you tell me to piss off and let you get some more sleep - ”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Not _all_ those times, but…well…yeah. Obviously. When did you think I did that sort of thing?”

He stood up and leant against the console. “To be honest, I’d always imagined you doing it just before sleep, not when you wake up.” He bit the inside of his cheek, then continued, “Not that I imagined that often.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, all right. Anyway, what’s wrong with the TARDIS?”

He blinked at her. “Oh! Right. She mistakenly thought we were about to crash into something, but her defences are all up and in place. Just a false alarm.” He bent back down to resume what he was doing with the wires, reconnecting the shielding mechanism with the collision detector. Well, that was how he described it to Rose; the names of the TARDIS parts were actually significantly more complex, of course. 

"And why did they need reconnecting?" she questioned.

"I was, er, I was a bit distracted the other day whilst tinkering," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "They must’ve just come loose." 

"Oh." She shifted her stance, her hip tilted provocatively. "And why were you distracted?"

"Rose. You were getting _dressed_ in here.” He sniffed. “I didn’t know where to look!”

She snorted, and he narrowed his eyes at her, before turning to the console. “I’ll park us somewhere safe,” he murmured, inputting the coordinates for a nice little spot on the coast, in twentieth century Great Yarmouth. He was hoping that after they’d resumed what they had started in the library, they could go for chips. He was feeling very peckish already. Sexual intercourse was sure to make him _ravenous,_ all that energy and heat to be generated.

“You don’t half look daft, you know, piloting the TARDIS with your hard-on poking out of your trousers.”

He glanced down, zipped up his fly with a wince, and glared at her. Rose giggled, and his lips twitched. Running a hand over his face, he muttered, “I feel so undignified.”

“It’s okay, Doctor,” she soothed, coming over and patting his arm. “It’s been quite an embarrassing day, all round.”

The Doctor frowned, wrapping his arms around her waist, hugging her to him. “You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about.”

“Don’t I?” she mumbled, resting her head on his shoulder as she played with his chest hair.

“No. Besides.” He kissed her forehead. “Even if you did, you look so devastatingly sexy in my shirt that I’d be bound to forget.”

She hummed in consideration and pressed her lips to his jaw, before standing on tiptoes to whisper in his ear, “If the TARDIS is all sorted, and there’s no imminent danger to sort out…”

"Yeah?" he prompted, when she trailed off. He moved his hands down to her bum, which was quite exposed thanks to her shirt riding up.

Rose nipped on his earlobe. “Think we could maybe finish what we started?”

"I think that’s a very good idea, yes." He hoisted her up with his hands under her thighs and she squeaked and laughed, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Trying out this new form of transport," he told her, as he carried her back down the corridor. "It’s a reverse piggy-back. Much more interesting."

"Oh, totally," she agreed, nibbling his neck.

"Less efficient, though, apparently," he said, a bit breathless as he tried to concentrate on walking them to his room. He was really starting to adore the way Rose appeared to have a preoccupation with sinking her teeth into his throat. "Am I going to have to start wearing scarves, Rose Tyler?"

"Hmm?" she mumbled, before sucking firmly.

Blimey. “I think the technical term for what you’re giving me right now is a lovebite, correct? Or, a hickey, I think - wasn’t that what that character called it? In that film we watched the other day. To be honest, I was hardly paying attention, because your bare legs were resting across my lap, so I might have that wrong.”

"Why aren’t we on your bed yet?" was her only response, and the low growl that emanated from deep in his chest surprised even him. He quickened his pace, pushing his bedroom door open with his bum.

"Satisfied?" he asked, raising his eyebrows as he dropped her onto his mattress.

Rose grinned, starting to unbutton the shirt she’d appropriated. “I was, earlier.”

"Quite thoroughly, I recall," he added, undoing his trousers swiftly. He pushed them and his pants to the floor.

"Mmhmm. Think I’m ready to be satisfied again, though." She threw his shirt at him and stretched out along the bed.

The Doctor chuckled. “Comfy?”

"Yep."

She rested her head on his pillow and he smiled, thinking about how it’d smell of her shampoo later. Then, he shook himself out of his sappy ponderings, and climbed on top of her, settling between her legs.

"I’m very impressed that you managed to sustain this, even though we might’ve been crashing into an asteroid or something," she remarked, wrapping her fingers around his cock.

"No asteroids in the vortex, Rose," he panted out.

Rose rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

"Well, like I said. My shirt was a good look on you. You were standing in my TARDIS console room knickerless. And I _had_ just made you come. Pretty sure that particular part of my anatomy wouldn’t notice if an asteroid had, indeed, collided with us.”

She flushed at his words, which he found adorable, and without any further comment or preamble, she ran his tip through her folds and positioned him at her entrance. Releasing him to squeeze his shoulders in encouragement, she murmured his name, just once.

He sank into her slowly, his eyes widening as he watched where they were joined. “Remarkable,” he said quietly, pulling out, before tilting her hips with his hands as he sank back in at a deeper angle. His gaze met hers and he couldn’t resist smirking, a little, at the awed and speechless expression on her face. “Okay?” he inquired gently.

"Yeah," she replied, on a breathy laugh, "You, um." She swallowed, looking like she was gathering her courage. "This feels…perfect." She clenched her eyes shut, embarrassed. "God, I sound so cheesy. It’s just never felt quite as - what am I saying." She opened her eyes. "I’m only gonna enable your vanity issues if I carry on like this," she teased.

"I’ve told you before, I’m not vain," he insisted, his measured thrusts maintaining a slow pace that he was certain was torturous for both of them. "And you, my love, need to just accept that we are both apparently extraordinarily good at this."

"Is that so?" She grinned.

The Doctor couldn’t keep up the leisurely momentum any longer. Speeding up, he decided not to answer her vocally, this time. Which was difficult, as he did so like to have the last word. Still, he reasoned, taking action was a much more worthwhile demonstration of their perfect compatibility in this arena.

He realised quickly that kissing her whilst engaging in rather passionate sex was, though very pleasurable in and of itself, not his main concern - though he couldn’t resist returning his mouth to hers every so often, primarily so that she would absent-mindedly bite into his bottom lip. However, he enjoyed hearing her unrestrained, unmuffled moaning far more, so he contented himself with exploring her neck, as she had done with him earlier, as he pumped his hips against hers.

He wasn’t going to tell her this, after, in case it only furthered her opinion of him being a bit vain, but he was exceedingly proud of his ability to hold out. Given that it had been a couple of regenerations since he’d last had sex, and that this body was so new, he was relieved that there hadn’t been an incident of the premature ejaculation variety. An applaudable feat, he reckoned, considering she was an expert in visually and physically stimulating him.

Having thought that, he was abruptly aware that it wouldn’t be too much longer before he reached climax, and he desperately wanted to make her come again before he did that, so his hand crept in between them to play with her clit.

"Rose," he murmured, calling on his repository of things he’d fantasised about saying to Rose Tyler in the heat of passion, "You feel incredible. You’re so hot, around me, blimey, I can hardly hold it together. You’ve no idea how much I’ve wanted this." She groaned loudly and he grinned, running with that line of thought. "How much I’ve thought about being inside you, feeling you come around my cock - "

"Fuck," she gasped, raking her nails down his back. " _Doctor._ ”

He pinched her clit then soothed it with firm, clockwise strokes of his thumb. “Are you close? I think you are.” He sucked at the join of her neck and shoulder. “I can feel you.” Her legs tightened around his waist. “I was so worried, today, when we were affected by that truth serum. So scared I’d say the wrong thing, admit how much I wanted to be with you, how much you arouse me just by being there, laughing with me, holding my hand. Saying such smart, funny things, being so… _you._ ”

"Oh my god, oh my god," she whimpered, her hips bucking into his.

She was so close, almost there, he could practically taste it; and he knew he wouldn’t be far behind her. “You’ve no idea what you do to me, do you? These past couple of weeks, trying to resist asking you to help me - what did I call it? _Investigate._ This new body of mine, all untested. The last one was, too, to be honest with you. Wish I’d had the courage then. Would you have liked that?”

"Yes," she groaned, one of her arms flinging back to grab a pillow helplessly.

"I didn’t know," he told her. "Didn’t know you wanted me like that. God, Rose. All this time."

"Nearly…" she choked out, and he doubled his efforts, thrusting hard. When she came, she moaned loudly, mumbling something unintelligible and digging her fingers so hard into his shoulder that he was certain she’d leave small bruises there. It astounded him how more than okay with that idea he was. Apparently, this new body of his liked things just a little rough.

The Doctor lifted the hand he’d just been touching her with to the side of her head, prising hers from the pillow to entwine their fingers as he continued to thrust into her, now chasing his own orgasm. Though she was still panting for breath, Rose appeared to have a bit of energy left to press her calves into his bum, driving him deep. She ran her free hand through his hair and said some incredibly filthy words to spur him on, and he almost choked on his own pleasure. Squeezing her hand tight, he came, hard, thrusting shallowly a few more times before slumping atop her, exhausted.

"At the risk of making you way too smug," Rose said, still panting, "Can I just say…that was the best sex I’ve ever had."

He giggled into her neck, shivering pleasantly as she stroked her hand down his spine. “I heartily concur,” he announced, pushing himself up and off her, hoping he hadn’t crushed her too much with his weight. Rolling onto his back, he hummed happily. “I possibly now understand why you humans do that so much.”

He felt her head turn to look at him, so he did the same, meeting her curious gaze. “Time Lords not so sexually active, then?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"You could say that," he replied, then sighed, contented. " _So_ glad I shacked up with a human.”

She poked his chest half-heartedly. “Oi.”

The Doctor rolled onto his side and draped his arm across her torso. “You’re so lovely,” he murmured, earnest. “All sweaty and sticky.”

"Oi!" she said again, laughing. She didn’t poke him this time, though, but curled into him, cuddling close. "You’re a bit sticky yourself."

"Hmm." He trailed his hand down her side, then squeezed her thigh. "Not as sticky as you. Come on, let’s go get cleaned up. I want some chips."

He bounced off the bed and towards the ensuite, turning back when he realised Rose wasn’t following him.

Instead, she’d propped herself up on her elbow to stare at him.

"What?" he asked, scratching his chest absently.

"You want chips?"

"Yeah. I’m starving." He frowned. "Is that not…oh. Right, you probably want to sleep, or something. That’s what humans like to do after orgasms, right? Mind you, after what you said earlier about your solo morning routine, I suppose not - " Rose started to laugh, so hard, in fact, that tears started leaking out of her eyes. He watched her, alarmed. "Um…"

"Sorry," she giggled, evidently trying and failing to compose herself. She got off the bed, a tad ungracefully, but it didn’t stop his mouth hanging open a little bit at the sight of her confidently stalking towards him, completely unclothed.

"You know, I am quite hungry," she said, when she reached him. Then, she dodged into his bathroom, and called over her shoulder, "Bagsy the first shower!"

The Doctor turned in a semi-circle, and shook his head, even though she was already turning on the water inside and had her bum - her _back_ \- to him. “Rose Tyler. You are mistaken if you think that’s gonna happen.” He strolled in after her and closed the bathroom door.

She hopped into his shower, smirking as he joined her. “Where are you gonna take us for chips, this time? ‘Further than we’ve ever gone before?’” she teased, tossing a sponge to him.

"Nah," he denied, pouring some shower gel onto the sponge and lathering her chest with it instead of his own. "Did that earlier." He winked. "I’ve parked the TARDIS in a nice little seaside town."

"Mmm, fish and chips by the sea," she sighed happily.

"There are also funfair rides."

"It’s getting better and better."

"We could get ice cream, too. And candyfloss!" He turned her around so that he could wash her back, then dropped the sponge in favour of drawing her back against him, his palms resting casually on her breasts. "I like candyfloss." He trailed his nose down her neck.

"Sounds like it’s gonna be a nice date, Doctor," Rose said, lifting her hand up to tousle his wet hair. "Might even be better than the sex we just had."

"Ha!" he laughed, spinning her around to face him again. "Impossible." He leant down to capture her lips, but she backed up against the shower wall, evading his advance.

"I may have gymnastics in my past, Doctor, but the logistics of shower sex is something I’ve never quite got the hang of."

"I was only going to kiss you!" he protested.

She smirked. “Yeah, you were only gonna kiss me earlier, too, and then what happened?”

"Ah, yes, well." He sniffed. "Good point."

"Yep. Come on, get washed and then you can fill your tummy with chips and kiss me on top of a Ferris wheel and get candyfloss stuck on my lips, or something."

The Doctor’s chest filled with an odd, contented sensation. “Rose, I don’t think you can be real. Honestly, you must just be a figment of my imagination. You are far too perf- ” He broke off with a gulp as she trailed a sponge over his crotch.

"Oh, I’m real, Doctor."

"Yeah," he conceded, squeaking inelegantly. "You’re right. My imagination’s not that good."


End file.
